Speaker 1: It is show time.
Speaker 2: That's good dud.
Speaker 1: Thank you, sir. A very pleasant, good evening, everybody. Greetings
Speaker 1: from the original Montgomery In home of the world's greatest ribs.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the West Miller Radio Show. I'm Dan Horde
Speaker 1: with former Bearcats stand out Terry Nelson, my new favorite
Speaker 1: podcaster and the star of the show, the head coach
Speaker 1: of your UC Bearcats. That's here at four Wes Miller.
Speaker 1: We are off to Atlanta tomorrow for a big game
Speaker 1: coming up on Saturday against the Georgia Bulldogs. They are
Speaker 1: eight and one. They're only lost this year in overtime
Speaker 1: against an excellent Clemson team. You have taken on some
Speaker 1: challenges in the non Big Twelve portion of the schedule,
Speaker 1: and this is one of the toughest ones on the slate.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this will be a great opportunity, great game. They
Speaker 3: I don't know what. I haven't checked the polls, and
Speaker 3: nor do I care a whole lot about them this
Speaker 3: time of year.
Speaker 2: But when you look.
Speaker 3: At the the at the Ken Pomp stuff, I mean,
Speaker 3: they're one of the best teams in the country to
Speaker 3: start the year, and they're doing some some really interesting things.
Speaker 2: In the open court.
Speaker 3: They're they're pressing, and they're playing extremely fast and speeding
Speaker 3: you up defensively. That they've had a really nice start.
Speaker 3: It's it's a it's a big time game, big time opportunity.
Speaker 4: Average of ninety nine points a game, which is incredible.
Speaker 4: What is it about Georgia. I mean, it's been the
Speaker 4: last three or four years that we played Georgia or
Speaker 4: in Georgia. Obviously there's some players there, but what about
Speaker 4: the what's the connection.
Speaker 3: I don't think that there's really it just kind of
Speaker 3: by chance, right, we had the Georgia Tech Series, now Georgia,
Speaker 3: and then I think Georgia will be back up this
Speaker 3: way to play US neutral somewhere next year.
Speaker 2: But I don't. I actually that's Clemson. I think that
Speaker 2: it comes back here next year. I don't. I don't.
Speaker 3: I think the Georgia win's a one off. But no,
Speaker 3: I think it's more by chance. It wasn't There's there's
Speaker 3: no nothing behind the scenes here. Intentionally just trying to
Speaker 3: find quality games, and Georgia was look and we were
Speaker 3: looking and it made sense to do it neutral.
Speaker 4: Lauren said, you planned that game because she came over here,
Speaker 4: so she said.
Speaker 2: She was going to go back if because she moved
Speaker 2: up from at Lea exactly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, she is hiding behind a post now trying
Speaker 1: to apployd eye contact with you team, Allen. I can't
Speaker 1: blame her. Yeah, there's a balancing act when you put
Speaker 1: together your schedule. You know you're going to have so
Speaker 1: many killer games in the Big Twelve, you want some
Speaker 1: in the non conference you don't want too many. Did
Speaker 1: you feel like you had a pretty good balance this year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there's you know, we've said this publicly
Speaker 3: quite a bit, guys. I think the first thing you're
Speaker 3: trying to do is build a tournament resume with your
Speaker 3: non conference schedule. Are there opportunities to do that? The
Speaker 3: second thing you're trying to prepare for your league because
Speaker 3: that's ultimately what's going to define your year in the
Speaker 3: regular season. And then third, you want to make sure
Speaker 3: there's some level of balance to keep you know, working
Speaker 3: and building your team and learning your team, especially in
Speaker 3: today's age. And I thought when we put together a
Speaker 3: knock schedule, I thought we did that.
Speaker 2: Is it fair for basketball?
Speaker 4: Because Notre Dame had an early loss to Miami and
Speaker 4: they're penalized for that ten in a row. But in
Speaker 4: basketball it seems like it goes up and down based
Speaker 4: on per game, Like you have a your game versus
Speaker 4: Dayton and Xavier and Georgia and Clemson, and they can
Speaker 4: really boost your net ranking or push them down and
Speaker 4: bury you.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think, And I haven't followed been a little preoccupied
Speaker 3: and hadn't quite followed the football stuff. But I think
Speaker 3: basketball and football are different because there's so many more opportunities,
Speaker 3: you know, like and you get into the league, like
Speaker 3: we played in the Big Twelve every night. It's the
Speaker 3: neatest part about the league is every night's an opportunity
Speaker 3: to get a big time win. Correct, And so that
Speaker 3: is different than football, where maybe one loss can keep
Speaker 3: you out of the playoff. It's not like that in
Speaker 3: college basketball.
Speaker 2: Fortunately.
Speaker 1: All right, let's go back and do a bit of
Speaker 1: an autopsy on the Xavier game. You haven't played a
Speaker 1: ton of zone defense since you've been at Cincinnati. A
Speaker 1: zone defense helped you get back into that game and
Speaker 1: helped you take a lead with two and a half
Speaker 1: minutes to go. Did you find something do you think
Speaker 1: defensively in that game?
Speaker 3: Well, you know, we were It was interesting I thought
Speaker 3: going into the game defending the three point line was
Speaker 3: a huge key. They were making eleven a game, top
Speaker 3: five in the country, and made threes a game. You know,
Speaker 3: they had inserted those you know, inserted a kid into
Speaker 3: the starting lineup in the front court. So they were
Speaker 3: putting five guys in their starting lineup that are all
Speaker 3: very capable from three and defending two shooters in the
Speaker 3: front courts. Unique it'll happen again this year. But you know,
Speaker 3: you guys that are coming off of games they've made
Speaker 3: five threes that, you know, the starting five man, the
Speaker 3: starting four man in recent games that each made five
Speaker 3: threes each. That presented some different types of challenges, and
Speaker 3: I thought, you know, our game plan was to really
Speaker 3: make sure that we were able to defend the three
Speaker 3: point line, make them score over us around the basket.
Speaker 3: I was frustrated with our defense in the game because
Speaker 3: we did defend the three point line, but we weren't
Speaker 3: disciplined to make them score over us. We fouled, gave
Speaker 3: up and one opportunities. We gave up a basket where
Speaker 3: we didn't sprint back in transition after a made basket,
Speaker 3: which is unacceptable. And then uh, they made a bunch
Speaker 3: of two's over the top, and that that's that's something
Speaker 3: that we've always been really good at is making it
Speaker 3: tough to score too. So anyway, we get into the
Speaker 3: second half and it just made sense at that point
Speaker 3: to try something different in the zone workforce.
Speaker 4: You said that you didn't think that Carol could score
Speaker 4: over Baba and Mustafa one on one.
Speaker 3: What did you see consistently assistently? Because it certainly it
Speaker 3: were at a level of basketball where everybody can make
Speaker 3: a one on one tough shot. That's sometimes you just
Speaker 3: clap your hands and you run back the other way
Speaker 3: and play the next possession, right, I mean, that's going
Speaker 3: to happen at this level, But you know to to
Speaker 3: to to get scored on over the top as much
Speaker 3: as we did. That surprised me. But you allow somebody
Speaker 3: to get in a rhythm by giving them easy ones.
Speaker 3: Now they get to two feet with an angle, get
Speaker 3: fouled and one, And we made a lot of errors,
Speaker 3: very simple errors to allow those, and then people get
Speaker 3: in a rhythm and it's easier for them to make
Speaker 3: the tougher ones.
Speaker 2: And I thought he did a little bit of both, right.
Speaker 3: He got easy ones, he got to the foul line,
Speaker 3: and then he was able to make some really tough
Speaker 3: ones over the top to close the game.
Speaker 1: Hindsight, it's always twenty twenty. What, if anything, would you
Speaker 1: do differently against him?
Speaker 3: Well, I think we would have spent more time on,
Speaker 3: you know, how to defend that action where they just
Speaker 3: kind of like set a pick and roll for him
Speaker 3: on the side and he drives it and flips his hips.
Speaker 3: You know, late in the game when we somebody asked me, like,
Speaker 3: why didn't you double more? Well, we were in the zone,
Speaker 3: you know, like one of the things we did. We
Speaker 3: went to the zone. We were trying to get to
Speaker 3: the double. We talked about it, and we got to
Speaker 3: it on one possession late in the game. There were
Speaker 3: two possessions he scored over the top. One of them
Speaker 3: was after they broke the zone kind of switched into man,
Speaker 3: and then the other one he had drove from the
Speaker 3: perimeter and just kind of made a quick move. So
Speaker 3: we were trying to double him more, but we probably
Speaker 3: to spend a little more time defending that because it
Speaker 3: was what they were kind of going to over and
Speaker 3: over again.
Speaker 4: I noticed in practice there seems to be what I
Speaker 4: used to call with Bob Huggins the Jack be Nimble experience,
Speaker 4: where you light a fire into somebody and you make
Speaker 4: them try to try to get them to play with
Speaker 4: a little bit more urgency in practice. I've been seeing
Speaker 4: a little bit more of that lately. Is that because
Speaker 4: you're trying to turn up for the conference? Are you
Speaker 4: just trying to get them prepared one game at a
Speaker 4: time for that?
Speaker 2: I just think I was really excited to have a
Speaker 2: week of practice. You know it's been a while.
Speaker 3: Yeah that I'm not guys, I ain't making excuses or complaining.
Speaker 2: I just as a coach, I live for practice.
Speaker 3: I live live for the opportunity to go in there
Speaker 3: and work and get better and you know, teach and
Speaker 3: like you said, you know, try to make the team
Speaker 3: a better team. And we had a week to do that.
Speaker 3: And so I think there was an opportunity to coach
Speaker 3: in a lot of different ways, and maybe one of
Speaker 3: them is what you're talking about. That was very intentional
Speaker 3: to try to create some urgency in some certain areas
Speaker 3: that we got to improve.
Speaker 1: Mustapha Chim has not been able to take advantage of
Speaker 1: his size and athletic ability lately as much as he
Speaker 1: did earlier. This year. What are you working on with him?
Speaker 3: Well, we need him to be a force. We need
Speaker 3: to be a presence. We need him to be a
Speaker 3: great rebounder on both ends. We need him to be
Speaker 3: a shot blocker and a rim protector defensively. You know,
Speaker 3: I thought in the Xavier game we did a nice
Speaker 3: job of getting the ball within four or five feet,
Speaker 3: like I thought, we were able to establish the post
Speaker 3: box with him. We didn't convert enough there. We're gonna
Speaker 3: keep trying to get him the ball. We need him
Speaker 3: to convert down there and kind of find his rhythm offensively.
Speaker 3: But there's no doubt about it. He's a big time player.
Speaker 3: We need him to play like a big time player,
Speaker 3: and I believe he will. We're hard at work at it.
Speaker 1: Break all right, yep, we'll take a time out. You
Speaker 1: are listening to the West Miller Radio Show or Live
Speaker 1: at the Original Montgomery In Home of the World's Greatest Rips.
Speaker 1: On seven hundred, we are back at the Original Montgomery
Speaker 1: In Home of the World's Greatest Rips and the West
Speaker 1: Miller Radio Show. We appreciate the Bearcat fans are with
Speaker 1: us here tonight. We will have some stuff to give
Speaker 1: away at the end of the show some Bearcat gear
Speaker 1: and some tickets to the bearcats next home game. Their
Speaker 1: next game, though, of course, is on the road this
Speaker 1: Saturday at Georgia. That's at two o'clock start. It's in Georgia,
Speaker 1: I should say, it's not a true road game. It's
Speaker 1: in Atlanta, obviously closer to the University of Georgia. Starts
Speaker 1: at two o'clock in the afternoon. Paba Miller missed a
Speaker 1: couple of games. He's been back for a couple of
Speaker 1: games now, probably playing at less than one hundred percent,
Speaker 1: and even at less than one hundred percent. He had
Speaker 1: seventeen rebounds in the Xavier game, a new career high
Speaker 1: for him. You spoke with reporters earlier today and it
Speaker 1: sounds like he's getting healthier and healthier at practice.
Speaker 3: He has been able to put days together this week,
Speaker 3: which is to me what led to a really great
Speaker 3: start for him of the season. He was one of
Speaker 3: our him and Dada Thomas and in terms of practice
Speaker 3: have been our most consistent guys day in, day out,
Speaker 3: and no mistake that those guys have had the start
Speaker 3: they've had, but him missing practice affected him. It was
Speaker 3: very obvious to our eyes as coaches again getting back
Speaker 3: in the rhythm of practice this week, I suspect that
Speaker 3: don't really help him.
Speaker 4: I've noticed that during this time you were early on,
Speaker 4: when you start getting the injuries to your team, you
Speaker 4: start giving them more breaks in between, and you start
Speaker 4: taking a little bit softer approch, not a softer approach,
Speaker 4: but not trying to push him as hard in certain
Speaker 4: areas because you want to just get to the game.
Speaker 4: But now that they're getting back healthy, I see you
Speaker 4: doing more with pressing and defenses and just trying out
Speaker 4: different things. Is that intentional?
Speaker 2: I just hate the dynamic you talked about. You can
Speaker 2: call it soft, it's what it is.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, you got guys hurt, you can't practice,
Speaker 3: and it's not they're not being soft.
Speaker 2: But hell, that's what I'm not going to the place
Speaker 2: I just told you. I live for practice.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but if guys are hurt and can't practice, what
Speaker 3: are you supposed to do? And you know, we were
Speaker 3: in a segment there where we were doing walkthroughs, not
Speaker 3: practices because we didn't have enough to be able.
Speaker 2: To practice there for a little bit. And no, that's
Speaker 2: no fun. That's no fun. I don't love that.
Speaker 3: You can call it any bad word you want, I
Speaker 3: won't disagree with it. But the no I think you
Speaker 3: have to this is basketball is like anything. There's no secrets.
Speaker 3: Like there's no secrets. It takes what it takes. The
Speaker 3: work is the work. The preparation is the preparation. And
Speaker 3: you know, again, I'm Fit's felt good this week to
Speaker 3: be able to get back in the gym and do that.
Speaker 1: You have an approach of trying to build your players up.
Speaker 1: You want them to feel confident when they take the court,
Speaker 1: and part of that is giving them freedom to take
Speaker 1: shots that you think they can make and they think
Speaker 1: they can make. But I wonder sometimes if there's a
Speaker 1: fine line when a guy who maybe doesn't have a
Speaker 1: great percentage and a key situation in the game takes
Speaker 1: one and you have to say, Okay, there are times
Speaker 1: to take that shot and other times not too.
Speaker 3: It's coaching, right, You get the film, you you get
Speaker 3: on the practice court, and you start really defining roles. Right.
Speaker 3: We've been doing that for the last two or three weeks.
Speaker 3: It doesn't mean that you still won't have a moment
Speaker 3: in a game where somebody will be eighteen to twenty
Speaker 3: two years old and do something they're not supposed to do.
Speaker 3: But I do think shot selection is going to be
Speaker 3: really important to our ability to improve our offense as
Speaker 3: a team.
Speaker 4: I spoke about this on the Legends Unpluged podcast. You guys,
Speaker 4: make sure you go ahead and do that.
Speaker 1: It's excellent. Yes, so big thumbs up from your broadcast
Speaker 1: partner Dan Horde.
Speaker 2: Appreciate it.
Speaker 4: Reve we were seven to zero in the nineteen ninety
Speaker 4: two season. Ninety one ninety two, we go to Michigan State,
Speaker 4: we had a nineteen point league. We end up losing
Speaker 4: at the Buzzer. And back then was now it was
Speaker 4: during the time. Right now, there's no twenty hour rule,
Speaker 4: so you can practice as long as you want. So
Speaker 4: the Hugs would make us do two a days. And
Speaker 4: then so after running us for a while, he put
Speaker 4: us all on the baseline and said this is your role,
Speaker 4: and he went down one. I won and went to
Speaker 4: everybody and he came to me and he said, Terry,
Speaker 4: you work the hardest that we have. I need you
Speaker 4: to rebound, I need you to block out, need you
Speaker 4: to play post defense. But if you don't go hard.
Speaker 2: You can't pass, you can't shoot, you can't.
Speaker 4: He just went through all this stuff that I can't do,
Speaker 4: and I didn't hear any of that. All I heard
Speaker 4: was if I want to play, play, post defense, play,
Speaker 4: you know, box out, do whatever. But it gave me
Speaker 4: the ability to say, this is what he sees in me,
Speaker 4: and if I do this, I can make a difference
Speaker 4: for the team. Do you have those conversations or they
Speaker 4: just kind of know based on the roles that you
Speaker 4: are planning out with offensive defensive strategy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you have those conversations, maybe in a different way
Speaker 2: than you could do in the nineties.
Speaker 3: I mean you also got to have those conversations with
Speaker 3: the agent.
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 3: And then there's a transfer port, you know, so it's
Speaker 3: not you know, yes, if you were pissed about it,
Speaker 3: you could you walk out of the door and transfer
Speaker 3: it back in ninety one ninety that's right, Corey.
Speaker 2: No, you do, Listen, you do.
Speaker 3: And there's certain fundamentals of coaching that are the exact
Speaker 3: same as they were fifty years ago, and that's what's fun.
Speaker 3: And then there's there's certain dynamics that are much different.
Speaker 3: I think I think, yes, you're trying to define what
Speaker 3: guy's strengths are getting them to play to their strengths,
Speaker 3: getting them to sacrifice maybe something they want to do
Speaker 3: for something that would be better for our team for
Speaker 3: them to do. We're having those conversations for sure. I
Speaker 3: think we have good kids that are trying to buy
Speaker 3: in and want to win.
Speaker 1: You express some optimism after the Xavier game, and I
Speaker 1: feel like some people took it the wrong way, like
Speaker 1: you weren't upset with the loss, which obviously nothing could
Speaker 1: be further from the truth. Probably put your fist through
Speaker 1: a back blackboard or something like that. But what did
Speaker 1: you see in that game that was caused for optimism
Speaker 1: and positivity?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, there's no way I didn't know that.
Speaker 2: I'm deleted social media a while back. I only have
Speaker 2: the apps on my phone, so to how smart. It's
Speaker 2: a much better way to live. I'll tell you what
Speaker 2: it makes. It makes life, not just for anything with basketball,
Speaker 2: just in general.
Speaker 3: I mean now, when I open my phone, I read
Speaker 3: my news apps, so I know what's going on in
Speaker 3: the world. But the.
Speaker 2: No I listen nobody.
Speaker 3: I don't know if I could even describe the pain
Speaker 3: that you feel after a loss.
Speaker 2: You know, it's a it's a deep pain. Uh.
Speaker 3: You know, you put your whole life and you nest
Speaker 3: into something and when you lose, I don't I don't
Speaker 3: even have the words to describe the.
Speaker 2: Pain that you feel.
Speaker 3: But that said, you know, the job of a coach
Speaker 3: of a player is to learn to get back to
Speaker 3: work and to figure out how to grow and to
Speaker 3: become a great team. And so you know to me
Speaker 3: that that's what you do with the loss. You learn,
Speaker 3: you learn, you're gonna feel that pain. Like it doesn't.
Speaker 3: I'm still upset about the game somewhere down here, like
Speaker 3: I don't like to talk about it, but that's my
Speaker 3: job is coming here and talk with you guys and
Speaker 3: answer questions. But the truth is you got to learn
Speaker 3: from it. You gotta channel it, and when you're winning
Speaker 3: games in the Big Twelve later in the year, the
Speaker 3: things that you went through at some point that that
Speaker 3: didn't feel good have to be a catalyst for you
Speaker 3: to be a good team. And those of us that
Speaker 3: have been in it a long time, you know, you
Speaker 3: know that's how it always works, and so that that's
Speaker 3: the goal.
Speaker 2: That's the job.
Speaker 3: And there were some moments in that game, you know
Speaker 3: that were positive. What I would say is had we
Speaker 3: hit a shot to go up one under two minutes,
Speaker 3: had we we have won that last two minutes, you
Speaker 3: guys be asking me all these fun questions tonight about.
Speaker 2: How good is it? You know that, well, you know,
Speaker 2: you got to put things in perspective sometimes too.
Speaker 3: So we did some good things to come back from
Speaker 3: a thirteen point deficit, to take a lead on the
Speaker 3: road and a rivalry game. You know, that's something we
Speaker 3: can build on. And there's a lot that we've already
Speaker 3: talked about that we can learn from.
Speaker 4: The great pat Riley said there's winning and there's misery. Sure,
Speaker 4: and that's exactly what you feel when you put your
Speaker 4: whole life into the preparation in doing all that and
Speaker 4: then you lose. Tell you it's tough for you guys
Speaker 4: that don't if you played sports on any level.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but you know, I say this, Terry, and I
Speaker 3: think you'll appreciate this, and anybody's listening, I think I'll
Speaker 3: appreciate this.
Speaker 2: Is you feel like as low as you could ever feel.
Speaker 3: But sometimes you take a step back and you think
Speaker 3: about I'm coaching basketball, we're playing basketball, and think about
Speaker 3: how great our lives are, how fortunate we.
Speaker 2: Are, who the hell wants to hear me complain? No
Speaker 2: serious that people.
Speaker 3: Out there working nine to five and struggling to put pop.
Speaker 3: Who wants to hear me complain? My job, into complain
Speaker 3: is to figure ou how to get our damn team better.
Speaker 3: And so when I stand in front of the media,
Speaker 3: I sit here in a radio interview, Hell, what do
Speaker 3: I have to complain about? My job is to go
Speaker 3: get us better and that's where my focus is.
Speaker 2: So you guys get right to it.
Speaker 4: Like when the game's over, you guys don't know, he
Speaker 4: doesn't go home and have a big stake and hang
Speaker 4: out like his assistant coaches are breaking down to film
Speaker 4: and you guys are going over what just took place,
Speaker 4: So you don't really get a mental break. So you're
Speaker 4: still in game mode. You try to, you know, Dan
Speaker 4: and myself or Dan and Steve, try to take some
Speaker 4: steam off in the radio interview before you get to
Speaker 4: the media room and you know, project to the world.
Speaker 2: But then you have to go right back and look
Speaker 2: at what you just saw. What is that like?
Speaker 4: For those that don't know.
Speaker 3: It's the only thing that I can do after a game,
Speaker 3: because if not, your brain is so eat win winter lost.
Speaker 3: Your brain's wired and all you can think about is
Speaker 3: the game and everything that happens. So the only thing
Speaker 3: that you're not going to be able to go to sleep.
Speaker 3: The only thing that makes any sense is to get
Speaker 3: to work. And for me, in any of the difficult
Speaker 3: things I've ever experienced in basketball, the only thing that
Speaker 3: it helps is working harder. And so you know, when
Speaker 3: lose your draw, we get in the room and grade
Speaker 3: the film and start figuring out how we can get better.
Speaker 1: Did you start that or did you get that from
Speaker 1: one of your previous as coaches.
Speaker 3: That's what my college coach did, And you know, when
Speaker 3: I was playing, you know, a couple of times I
Speaker 3: would go ask to watch them grade the tape because
Speaker 3: they call out the grades and I wanted to see
Speaker 3: how that went. And then when I was getting into coaching,
Speaker 3: I would sit and help them grade and do that
Speaker 3: as a young person that wanted to coach. And then
Speaker 3: even you know, I was so fortunate that my mentor
Speaker 3: and coach was coaching an hour from me. You know,
Speaker 3: when I was a young head coach, and I probably
Speaker 3: a couple of games a year, I wouldn't go to
Speaker 3: the game, but I drive down there when the game
Speaker 3: was over, just to sit in and watch them grade,
Speaker 3: you know, just to see if I could pick something
Speaker 3: up or learn something. And sometimes I felt like we
Speaker 3: were doing it like them, and I'd go watch them
Speaker 3: and go, hell, we ain't doing it like as good
Speaker 3: as they're doing it. You know, you might learn something,
Speaker 3: but no, I we greade and it's not the exact
Speaker 3: same system in process that I learned from from my
Speaker 3: college coach. We've tweaked it, we've altered it to fit
Speaker 3: what we're doing. But that's where the whole thing started.
Speaker 3: I'm not that original, to be honest.
Speaker 1: When you've added new members to your coaching staff and
Speaker 1: you explain that this is part of the process, did
Speaker 1: they go away?
Speaker 4: What?
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're not going out to dinner right.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: It's in the in the circles of all the guys
Speaker 3: that I've worked with that and most of us are
Speaker 3: all still very close guys that we've worked with over
Speaker 3: the last fifteen years. That's like the one joke they
Speaker 3: all have, like I don't miss the grading, or you know,
Speaker 3: a new guy gets hired and they see somebody that
Speaker 3: used to work with us on the road, how you
Speaker 3: get ready for the grading.
Speaker 2: You know, like they assistants don't like it.
Speaker 3: But I will say I've had a number of assistant
Speaker 3: coaches that have appreciated it because you.
Speaker 2: Get the team, you get the staff on the same page.
Speaker 3: You learn, you really teach young coaches how to watch film.
Speaker 2: It's something I really.
Speaker 4: Do value you, mikeel on the staff, you would challenge
Speaker 4: you on the sideline, and it was a crazy dynamic.
Speaker 4: You guys are going back and forth on the sideline.
Speaker 4: Is there anybody that challenged you, not in a physical way,
Speaker 4: but saying, look, I think we need to do this
Speaker 4: when you have a strong opinion.
Speaker 3: Otherwise I'm main man, Mike, I mis amen, Mike. He's
Speaker 3: doing great. He's this assistant at New Mexico. They're off
Speaker 3: to a great start. So shout out to Mike Roberts.
Speaker 3: But oh yeah, we would get into some altercations.
Speaker 2: Dan and I would be bumpling to like this. It's funny, man.
Speaker 3: I walked into Starbucks one morning and we were coaching
Speaker 3: down at the mid major school in North Carolina together,
Speaker 3: and we used to go to the same Starbucks every
Speaker 3: morning on the way to work.
Speaker 2: And I walked in.
Speaker 3: And one of the fans that comes to the game
Speaker 3: stop me, and he goes, are you okay with your
Speaker 3: assistant coach?
Speaker 2: What are you talking about?
Speaker 3: And I said, grasp you guys from about twenty last night,
Speaker 3: you okay with your assistants?
Speaker 2: I said, what are you talking about?
Speaker 3: He said, you guys got into it on the side,
Speaker 3: and I was like, that's just how we communicate.
Speaker 2: Man like.
Speaker 3: But uh no, that was great and we worked together
Speaker 3: for ten years and we had a really good dynamic
Speaker 3: for sure.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, take a time out of questions from
Speaker 1: the audience when we continue. This is the West Miller
Speaker 1: Radio Show or Live at the Original Montgomery In Home
Speaker 1: of the World's Greatest Ribs on seven hundred w allw
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the West Miller Radio Show, Live from
Speaker 1: the original Montgomery In Home of the world's Greatest Ribs.
Speaker 1: I think we're on next Tuesday next week. If I'm
Speaker 1: not mistaken because of the schedule next week, it'll be
Speaker 1: well double check before the end of the show tonight.
Speaker 1: In any case, let's take some questions from the audience.
Speaker 1: Phillis as batting lead off tonight coach.
Speaker 5: This kind of dovetails with Dan's comment just a little
Speaker 5: bit this may seem it's from observation and might be
Speaker 5: somewhat tough for you. We like hearing that there's good
Speaker 5: practice and that it sounds really, you know, really encouraging,
Speaker 5: but it hasn't appeared to translate many times in performance
Speaker 5: on the floor, and that seems to be a bit
Speaker 5: of a disconnect. The fan base, for better or for worse,
Speaker 5: would like to see the intensity of the coaching to
Speaker 5: turn up and get a little tougher. And we know
Speaker 5: that good people can be very demanding, but is there.
Speaker 2: A downside to that to be demanding, to be.
Speaker 5: Demanding and expecting more of the players than what they're
Speaker 5: doing delivering at that point. Because we know we have
Speaker 5: good players, that's not even a question, but it seems
Speaker 5: that there needs to be more demanded of them and
Speaker 5: to be a little tougher on them because and I
Speaker 5: know it's a mishmash, we only had three returners, so
Speaker 5: it makes it really complicated. But I think sometimes with
Speaker 5: coaching and leading, that the expectation has to be up
Speaker 5: here and then moved down from from the top of
Speaker 5: really being hard to being okay, this is where we
Speaker 5: are kind of coaching and leading.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the standard has to be high. I
Speaker 3: think that's what's being demanded of them. So yeah, that's
Speaker 3: from my perspective. Yes, that you're right in what you're saying,
Speaker 3: and the application of that is happening.
Speaker 1: Thank you, sure, Thanks Phyllis. Before we get to Brian,
Speaker 1: the show is on Tuesday on December thirtieth, so not
Speaker 1: next week, but the week after Christmas. We'll have a
Speaker 1: Tuesday show, not a Thursday show.
Speaker 2: Bryan, you're up, coach. I don't know a thing about Georgia.
Speaker 2: What do they do?
Speaker 3: Press press, speed the game up. They lead the nation
Speaker 3: and shot blocking. So as they speed the game up,
Speaker 3: they steal the ball, they turn the they turn you
Speaker 3: over to high rate their top ten in the country there.
Speaker 3: When you shoot shots quickly around the rim, they turn
Speaker 3: those into turnovers by blocking shots and altering shots.
Speaker 2: And then they're.
Speaker 3: Playing about as fast as you can play, converting defense
Speaker 3: to offense with a ton of guards that are downhill oriented,
Speaker 3: shoot a lot of threes, touch the paint a lot.
Speaker 2: They have an athletic front court.
Speaker 3: So again, playing eleven guys, they're playing eleven deep, playing
Speaker 3: extremely fast on offense and defense.
Speaker 1: And it's really playing eleven deep too. They're all averaging
Speaker 1: double digit minutes. It's not like the eleventh guy gets
Speaker 1: in there for four correct, Yeah, all right, next question.
Speaker 2: Uh two parter here?
Speaker 6: Uh do we have an update on Gisel James for
Speaker 6: one and two? Does a player like that fit with
Speaker 6: this lineup? With the men of ball dominant cards that
Speaker 6: we have.
Speaker 2: From a basketball perspective. I don't have any updates.
Speaker 3: But he's doing great, really proud of I'm really happy
Speaker 3: for him. But I don't have any basketball updates and
Speaker 3: uh so then you know, I guess it's not appropriate
Speaker 3: to answer the second part of the question.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you very much.
Speaker 7: Yeah, coach, My question is more on the offensive side.
Speaker 2: I think you do.
Speaker 7: You've done over the years pretty good job on the
Speaker 7: defensive side. Offensive side. With this year's team, you have
Speaker 7: a better inside presence than you've had in a while.
Speaker 7: What are your thoughts on the balance between you know,
Speaker 7: the inside game, When do you really emphasize that during
Speaker 7: the game versus the analytics of that you're seeing out
Speaker 7: there of you know, everybody wants to shoot the threes
Speaker 7: and so forth. What's that balance? Because you have to
Speaker 7: have the inside game, you have to have guys that
Speaker 7: drive the ball to basket, finish or get the free
Speaker 7: throw line, as well as guys that.
Speaker 2: Can shoot the three.
Speaker 7: Three shooting has been a struggle for this team. How
Speaker 7: do you take advantage of what you have now as
Speaker 7: an inside game and how early do you deploy that.
Speaker 3: It's a great question. The you know, the first thing
Speaker 3: with the three point shooting is we have a roster
Speaker 3: full of guys that haven't not just projected that they
Speaker 3: could go shoot threes. Well, they've already shot threes well
Speaker 3: in their careers, right, So at some point, and I
Speaker 3: believe it will happen, we're going to shoot the ball
Speaker 3: well from three. We made eleven in our last game,
Speaker 3: so that's that's a step in the right direction. But
Speaker 3: if you're just shooting threes, right, that's knocking. To be enough,
Speaker 3: we have to establish ourselves in the postbox, right.
Speaker 2: We're trying to do that.
Speaker 3: We're trying to do that through Mustapha Chim, We're trying
Speaker 3: to do that through Baba Miller. We're trying to do
Speaker 3: it to start games and start halfs. If you look
Speaker 3: at the start of most games, we start a possession
Speaker 3: by throwing it into the box you know, the first
Speaker 3: possession against a the night we throw it in, they
Speaker 3: double Baba, Boba the ball, kick it out, hit a
Speaker 3: three day, it hits it three to start the I
Speaker 3: mean we're trying to do it. I thought we actually
Speaker 3: got the ball into the box. To Mustafa, Well, we've
Speaker 3: had knights we didn't I mean we got it that,
Speaker 3: we didn't get in enough against Louisville and he had
Speaker 3: it going against Louisville. Right, we've had nights that we
Speaker 3: got it in there and we didn't convert. We got
Speaker 3: it in there pretty good to him. I thought he
Speaker 3: had a couple of really nice looks to start the
Speaker 3: second half, running the rim, getting early post catches. He's
Speaker 3: gonna convert those. Baba's been our most consistent guy. It's
Speaker 3: scoring around the basket, putting pressure on the basket, whether
Speaker 3: it's the drive or the back to the basket game.
Speaker 3: We need that from other guys. Since your Harris has
Speaker 3: been pretty consistent at driving the ball and getting to
Speaker 3: the rim. We are getting fouled more than we've ever
Speaker 3: gotten fouled since I've been at Cincinnati. So we're getting
Speaker 3: to the free throw line. We're not converting, right, I
Speaker 3: mean we're shooting fifty percent. And you know, you look
Speaker 3: at the last game right from a shot disparity standpoint,
Speaker 3: because this is what we go in there after the
Speaker 3: game and we evaluate every aspect of it. You know,
Speaker 3: shot the ball well from three for the first time
Speaker 3: in a while.
Speaker 2: That was great.
Speaker 3: We actually got to the basket with angled shots. We
Speaker 3: didn't take a bunch of contested midi twos that are
Speaker 3: the lowest percented shots in our game. We get to
Speaker 3: the basket, we miss miss four layups. I'm not talking
Speaker 3: about layups that the coach is going, heah. You could
Speaker 3: may say it's a layup, but it was contested. We
Speaker 3: missed four point blank layups. Those are one hundred percent
Speaker 3: shots in college basketball. They didn't go in. We got
Speaker 3: the ball into mu a couple times twice, and we
Speaker 3: missed two and a half footers.
Speaker 2: Those should be about ninety percent converted.
Speaker 3: So and then we miss a eleven free throw So offensively,
Speaker 3: in the last game, the shot disparity, the rim pressure,
Speaker 3: that getting to the free throw line, the getting the ball.
Speaker 2: To the post box, we executed that, but.
Speaker 3: We leave eleven on the free throw line, right, we
Speaker 3: missed six layups or opportunities that it the worst case,
Speaker 3: you're five for six, Well, that's going to be a
Speaker 3: big disparity in the game. Now, we haven't executed offense
Speaker 3: to that degree in every game to start the year.
Speaker 3: We need to execute offense that consistently, and then we
Speaker 3: need to convert more consistently. But establishing the box, you're
Speaker 3: absolutely right. Whether it's through the post, whether it's through
Speaker 3: the drive, whether it's through a cut, whether it's through
Speaker 3: a transition layup, whether it's defense to offense, that's got
Speaker 3: to happen.
Speaker 8: All right, next question, Okay, following up on the last question, So,
Speaker 8: Baba Miller, it's specifically so he was over four and
Speaker 8: then shootout from three, but it looked like he had
Speaker 8: the advantage inside. He's either gonna get double teamed or
Speaker 8: he's gonna score inside. So when when do you coach
Speaker 8: up and say yet, it's not your night, don't don't
Speaker 8: keep shooting the three. And there's a kind of a
Speaker 8: two part question. I think he can shoot the three,
Speaker 8: but he hasn't shown it yet this year. So that's
Speaker 8: the second part of the clesson is that is that
Speaker 8: part of his game that you want, that you encourage
Speaker 8: or is like, no, no, get down low, do your thing,
Speaker 8: because you have a lot of talent and you can
Speaker 8: score it will down there pretty much.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Bob's over four from three in the Savior game.
Speaker 2: It's what you're referring to.
Speaker 3: He's been such a force in all aspects of the
Speaker 3: game for us to start the year. You know, certainly
Speaker 3: I trust Baba. Boba's been our most consistent player to
Speaker 3: start the year before the injurygue in the Louisville game,
Speaker 3: Baba already showed that he could shoot the three a
Speaker 3: year ago at Florida Atlantic, So you're not talking about
Speaker 3: somebody that hasn't made threes. Number two, We stat every
Speaker 3: three in practice. In practice, in drills, we find that
Speaker 3: if you can shoot seventy percent or better, that's going
Speaker 3: to translate to better than thirty three percent in live play.
Speaker 3: Baba shoots seventy five percent in our shooting drills. From
Speaker 3: the summer till now. We have confidence that Baba can
Speaker 3: shoot it.
Speaker 2: His ability to.
Speaker 3: Stretch the floor will be very important for this team
Speaker 3: over the course of the year. Now, do we want
Speaker 3: him to maybe take two less in the last game
Speaker 3: where he could have maybe driven the ball and put pressure.
Speaker 2: Yes, and that's why we watched.
Speaker 3: The film and we point that out to him and
Speaker 3: point that out to the team that this isn't about
Speaker 3: not shooting the ball, because I will tell you, guys,
Speaker 3: in coaching, missing shots is really difficult. Having guys that
Speaker 3: are afraid to shoot or don't believe they have the
Speaker 3: confidence to shoot is way worse.
Speaker 2: Okay, So it's not always as simple.
Speaker 3: We want guys to play confidently, as Dan mentioned earlier
Speaker 3: with the question, but we got to continue to get
Speaker 3: better with shots election.
Speaker 2: I think we've improved there over the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 3: Results in the win lost column may not feel good,
Speaker 3: but we do believe in that area that we're evaluating,
Speaker 3: we have improved and we'll continue to improve.
Speaker 9: Brian Coach, I know that Chom you're asking him to
Speaker 9: do some stuff that he has not been asked to
Speaker 9: do in the past. As far as his inside game,
Speaker 9: How is he developing there? I mean, we can see
Speaker 9: what's happening in the game, but just what are you
Speaker 9: seeing in practice and the way he's approaching it and
Speaker 9: how he is progressing with what you're asking him to
Speaker 9: do that he's not used to.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think guys. You to put this in perspective,
Speaker 3: Shawna Bayev and Mustafa Chalmer unbelievably gifted young players, like
Speaker 3: they're special and they're gonna have these special basketball careers
Speaker 3: long after this year. They're very young players, and they're
Speaker 3: being asked to do things they've never been asked to
Speaker 3: do with an intensity and a demand that they've never had,
Speaker 3: u with a standard they've never been asked to do
Speaker 3: it that that can be difficult. It's very healthy for them.
Speaker 3: They're they're actually improving in front of our eyes. They're
Speaker 3: gonna have success in league play because they've been through it.
Speaker 3: But imagine if and this is an excuse, but just
Speaker 3: so you see what you're looking at when you ask
Speaker 3: these questions. I mean, Jalen Haynes is a fifth year
Speaker 3: senior that was running up for the year in the
Speaker 3: A ten last year, that averaged sixteen to ten.
Speaker 2: Okay, Like now, that.
Speaker 3: Puts less pressure on Mustafa when there's a guy at
Speaker 3: his position that.
Speaker 2: Was on a championship team in.
Speaker 3: A great league last year on a great team and
Speaker 3: was almost a Player of the Year in the league.
Speaker 3: That's a fifth year senior that's twenty three years old.
Speaker 2: Now that it's like the pressure on him to perform
Speaker 2: is a little different. Right.
Speaker 3: The good moments feel great, the negative moments there's somebody else,
Speaker 3: So it's almost like having an understudy there to start
Speaker 3: the year, somebody to work beside. Now the pressure's on
Speaker 3: Mustafa to performed. This is great for his development. It
Speaker 3: might not always be fun, you know, to watch the process.
Speaker 3: It's the same thing for Sean Jalen. Celestine is a
Speaker 3: fifth year senior, played at Calf, played at Baylor, played
Speaker 3: on a tournament team, and basically hasn't hasn't performed in practice.
Speaker 3: This week is the first time he's done three days
Speaker 3: in a row since he got to Cincinnati. Okay, so
Speaker 3: you know the guy at his position that's older and experienced.
Speaker 3: So Shawn's been thrown completely into the fire. So then
Speaker 3: we get to pick apart everything that he's doing or
Speaker 3: not doing. The truth is they're both improving, and they're
Speaker 3: both going to have great years, and they're both gonna.
Speaker 2: Have terrific basketball.
Speaker 3: Chris most likely in the NBA at some point. We're
Speaker 3: just seeing some of that young stuff and they don't
Speaker 3: have that older player beside him at their position. They
Speaker 3: were supposed to have. That's okay, this is life. Do
Speaker 3: it throws it at you and you just work through it.
Speaker 3: And they're both working through it, and I think they're
Speaker 3: both going to be great.
Speaker 1: All Right, we need to take a time out. This
Speaker 1: is the West Miller Radio Show or Live at the
Speaker 1: Original Montgomery In Home of the World's Greatest Ribs. On
Speaker 1: seven hundred WLW. We are back at the Original Montgomery
Speaker 1: In Home of the World's Greatest Ribs and the West
Speaker 1: Miller Radio Show. We're getting ready for a big road
Speaker 1: game coming up on Saturday at two o'clock, Cincinnati will
Speaker 1: be in Atlanta to take on the eight and one
Speaker 1: Georgia Bulldogs. We've got about ten minutes left with coach.
Speaker 1: Let's get to another question from the audience. Go ahead.
Speaker 6: So I'm just curious with the new world of college
Speaker 6: basketball in college sports, but the transfer portal, and I
Speaker 6: all that, when does the process for next year begin
Speaker 6: for you?
Speaker 2: Are you doing that now? That began a long time ago? Okay, Okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: thats uh.
Speaker 3: I think you know and and and I'm again I
Speaker 3: don't I don't ever try to be the person complaining
Speaker 3: what what good's that gonna do?
Speaker 2: That this new landscape's crazy. I mean, the.
Speaker 3: Transfer portal process started before we ever played a game.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, every every player now has an agent.
Speaker 3: That agent has a roster. Every coach in the country
Speaker 3: knows every agent's roster. Every coach in the country gets
Speaker 3: text messages weekly about how their players are performing in
Speaker 3: other colleges to monitor them to follow.
Speaker 2: I mean, this is going on.
Speaker 3: You know, it's I'm not saying anything controversial, it's the truth.
Speaker 3: So that's that's stuff's going on. And we're monitoring all
Speaker 3: these players around college basketball that will be in the
Speaker 3: transfer portal. I think at this point you just assume
Speaker 3: every single player will be and uh and and staying
Speaker 3: in touch with the people that are calling about them.
Speaker 3: But you know, you're not breaking any rules, You're not
Speaker 3: reaching out to anybody directly. But let's be honest, this
Speaker 3: is just what's going on in college football in college
Speaker 3: basketball every single day.
Speaker 2: Thanks for us, appreciate it. Sure now they're probably of questioning.
Speaker 10: So the changes in the nil that are coming, I
Speaker 10: think soon, do they change your approach at all? Is
Speaker 10: there any changes to what you do based on the
Speaker 10: changes that have coming?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think for me, hiring Corey Evans was a
Speaker 3: game changing decision because we were able to hire somebody
Speaker 3: that spends three hundred and sixty five days a year thinking.
Speaker 2: About nil transfer portal and everything that goes into it.
Speaker 3: And so, you know, and I think most schools are
Speaker 3: now doing something along those lines because we're living in
Speaker 3: this moment with our team trying to prepare for the
Speaker 3: next game, you know, really trying to have a special year.
Speaker 3: But having somebody that is not a part of that process,
Speaker 3: that only thinks about the roster build that's coming, you know,
Speaker 3: when the season ends. I think that was a big
Speaker 3: adjustment for us. We talk about the changes that are
Speaker 3: coming in college basketball, there's only been one consistent thing
Speaker 3: over the last four years, is there'll be a change
Speaker 3: every three months and then another change the next three
Speaker 3: It's been hard to hit a moving target with strategy
Speaker 3: because things change every recruiting cycle. The only thing you
Speaker 3: can count on is it's going to change and it's
Speaker 3: going to cost more money.
Speaker 2: That's about all the two things that I think have
Speaker 2: been consistent. Bob, So I'm talking about Mustapha. You mentioned
Speaker 2: Jalen Haynes.
Speaker 4: How's Jalen's recovery coming along, and will we see him
Speaker 4: on the court this year.
Speaker 2: I'm hopeful.
Speaker 3: His recovery's been miraculous to this point. Honestly, I think
Speaker 3: it's the quickest recovery I've ever seen from an injury
Speaker 3: like that. Our trainer, Bob man Jean, who's been doing
Speaker 3: it for forty plus years, said the same thing. He's shooting,
Speaker 3: He's going through skill workouts. He participating in those aspects
Speaker 3: of practice at times, but he's not practicing yet, not
Speaker 3: even in non contact situations. But he is doing some
Speaker 3: shooting workouts in some i'd say sixty seventy percent skill stuff.
Speaker 3: I do think that there's a chance that we'll see
Speaker 3: him in a Bearcat uniform. It will not be this
Speaker 3: week or next week, but I do think it's possible
Speaker 3: this year. You know, maybe that's wishful and hopeful thinking,
Speaker 3: because I think he's pretty special, not just as a talent,
Speaker 3: but as a functional player, experienced player, competitor. I thought
Speaker 3: when we put this roster together that Sincere Harris and
Speaker 3: Jalen Haynes were the most old school type Bearcats, I
Speaker 3: think people out there listening will understand what I mean
Speaker 3: by that, and had experience being that way over their
Speaker 3: college careers, and I think people watch sincere understand exactly
Speaker 3: what I'm talking about. Jalen Haynes, in his own way,
Speaker 3: has that same moxie. So yeah, I really think i'd
Speaker 3: like to have him back, and I think he's making
Speaker 3: every effort to get back.
Speaker 1: Have you thought of his comeback in terms of, Okay,
Speaker 1: if he can get back in early January and have
Speaker 1: most of the Big twelve schedules still ahead, then it's
Speaker 1: well worth it. If it's closer to February, then it's
Speaker 1: better off trying to see if he can get a
Speaker 1: red shirt season. Do you think of it kind of
Speaker 1: in those terms?
Speaker 3: Well, I think I think you always have to think
Speaker 3: about what's best for the human being coming off of injury.
Speaker 3: And you know, selfishly, I wanted if we can play
Speaker 3: two games.
Speaker 2: I want him to play. He's that good, you know,
Speaker 2: he's that impactful.
Speaker 3: He was probably our best player in our preseason stuff,
Speaker 3: you know, and that type of thing.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I want him to play.
Speaker 3: But I do think there's an aspect of what's the
Speaker 3: right thing to do for the individual, and you'll always.
Speaker 2: Answer that question first.
Speaker 3: I'll tell you this though, I do think he deserves
Speaker 3: another year, whether he plays or not. I think even
Speaker 3: if he plays, he does when you look at he
Speaker 3: had to sit out a year at George Mason when
Speaker 3: the old transfer rules existed that told you had to
Speaker 3: sit out, and then halfway through the year they changed
Speaker 3: them and said, oh, by the way, you can play
Speaker 3: in January if you want now. And he didn't want
Speaker 3: to waste a whole year playing half a year, and
Speaker 3: that was the NCAA going back and forth six times
Speaker 3: in his career ain't fair.
Speaker 2: He deserves another year no matter what.
Speaker 3: So I hope he gets to play this year and
Speaker 3: then I'd like him to come back and play again
Speaker 3: next year.
Speaker 2: And I think he's got a hell of a case there.
Speaker 2: I know the sound of that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know that in house lawyer that can take
Speaker 4: it up if you got you want somebody to help
Speaker 4: with the process. But anyway, coach, in the in the
Speaker 4: non in the on the off season, you did a
Speaker 4: lot of team building exercises. You go different places. You
Speaker 4: guys are doing a lot of stuff for the to
Speaker 4: build camaraderie and sort of let the steam out because
Speaker 4: you were going really hard in the summertime. What are
Speaker 4: you doing personally to take some steam off? I know
Speaker 4: you like the golf a lot. Are you hitting any
Speaker 4: golf simulators?
Speaker 3: No? Well, hell, who's playing golf in Cincinnati in the
Speaker 3: winter simulators?
Speaker 2: That's why I said no. I know, I don't. I
Speaker 2: don't need any time.
Speaker 3: I need to spend my time getting better, Uh, working
Speaker 3: with our team and preparing for the next game.
Speaker 2: And I find health within that. Terry.
Speaker 3: I get on the peloton, not as much as I should.
Speaker 3: I probably should do that a little more. And I
Speaker 3: got a great a great woman at home, and I'm
Speaker 3: just cook blessed, blessed to have some some some time
Speaker 3: twenty thirty minutes when I come home at night and
Speaker 3: take a break and eat, and we get to spend
Speaker 3: time together.
Speaker 2: That's more than I need.
Speaker 1: I never heard did t nell sneak his way into
Speaker 1: the Thanksgiving celebration?
Speaker 2: Did that happen? He did not. He was invited.
Speaker 1: He invited himself. We heard it, But then you were
Speaker 1: legitimately invited.
Speaker 2: You didn't make it, Huh, I did not make it.
Speaker 1: That's unfortunate.
Speaker 4: I'll be there Christmas now that I got the invite.
Speaker 1: A standing it's to show up at every holiday.
Speaker 8: I'm here.
Speaker 1: We had a question from one of our Bearcad fans
Speaker 1: tonight about already planning for next seat. And I'm not
Speaker 1: sure if we've discussed it or not on a radio show,
Speaker 1: but dude, you you did sign a high school player
Speaker 1: in the early recruiting period. Cayden Allen, six' five guy
Speaker 1: with guard. Skills tell us a little bit about.
Speaker 2: Him he's a terrific. Player he's.
Speaker 3: Playing he's playing his senior year at a School Long Island,
Speaker 3: lutheran goes by Lew high In New York, city and
Speaker 3: they play on the in The Nike league that's now
Speaker 3: This National High School, league high high level. Stuff HE'S
Speaker 3: i think they have him ranked as a top fifty.
Speaker 2: Player he actually was.
Speaker 3: At one point ranked as a top, twenty top ten
Speaker 3: maybe player in his class as a young, player because
Speaker 3: he was playing With Cooper flag and a bunch of
Speaker 3: other very well known players on a Mont org team
Speaker 3: that won the national championship and went, undefeated and he
Speaker 3: was the only underclassman that played a significant role in that.
Speaker 3: TEAM i find it, fast and we've recruited him for three.
Speaker 3: Years he's such a such a bright young. Man he's
Speaker 3: focused his ability to pay attention and focus and articulate
Speaker 3: things is beyond his.
Speaker 2: Years he's.
Speaker 3: SKILLED i think he could play all three positions in the.
Speaker 3: Backcourt and this is WHAT i find. AWESOME i don't
Speaker 3: care what the heck they rank. Him he'll be one
Speaker 3: of the top twenty players in his. Class and he's
Speaker 3: he's should be a junior in high. School AND i
Speaker 3: don't think people know. THAT i don't think the people
Speaker 3: ranking him know. THAT i don't think other people that
Speaker 3: recruiting him knew, that but we found. OUT i think
Speaker 3: he'll show.
Speaker 2: Up he's.
Speaker 3: SEVENTEEN i mean like he won't turn. Eighteen he's. Young
Speaker 3: he's very very young for a high school, senior and,
Speaker 3: again should be in the next. Class if he was
Speaker 3: in the next, class he'd probably ranked in the top,
Speaker 3: ten and that's the class he should be. In so
Speaker 3: we're really excited about. Him BUT i am so impressed
Speaker 3: with him his, intelligence his, focus and not just his,
Speaker 3: talent which is tremendous as. Well he's going to be
Speaker 3: a great.
Speaker 4: Player the president for, that the president for that Was Troy.
Speaker 4: Colepaine he was on campus and didn't turn eighteen Until.
Speaker 4: NOVEMBER i believe and he was getting major minutes under.
Speaker 3: MCCRONA i remember being at AN aau event In, pittsburgh
Speaker 3: of all, places in the spring of his junior. Year
Speaker 3: he was playing for a team loaded team out Of,
Speaker 3: virginia AND i remember. WATCHING i was looking at some
Speaker 3: other guys AND i, said who in the heck is?
Speaker 3: That it Was Troy copaine and then he, then you,
Speaker 3: KNOW i think he was already. COMMITTED i want to,
Speaker 3: say he's going To. Cincinnatis how the heck did they get?
Speaker 3: Him you, know he was great And i've gotten to Know.
Speaker 2: Troy think a lot of them also a highly intelligent basketball,
Speaker 2: player no.
Speaker 1: Doubt all, right we are out of. Time we appreciate
Speaker 1: The bearcat fans were with us here. Tonight we've got
Speaker 1: some stuff to give away momentarily for everybody listening on the,
Speaker 1: radio thanks for tuning. In this has been The West
Speaker 1: Miller Radio show from the Original Montgomery In home of
Speaker 1: The World's greatest rips one hundred do W L dole